Proclaiming March 2007 as "Justice Month."

The City Council of Philadelphia designates the Month of March 2007, as “Justice Month” in Philadelphia and encourages participation in a month-long “Festival of Justice” in the City of Philadelphia.

WHEREAS, Now, at the beginning of the 21st

Century the United States has a higher percentage of citizens in prison than any other country in the world. Almost two and a half million people are in prison and close to eight million are in the system: either in prison, on parole, or on probation; and

WHEREAS, The prison industrial complex has become a $52 billion a year industry and is one of the United States’ few growth industries; and

WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia spent 263 million dollars in the 2005 fiscal year; and

WHEREAS, The cost of running the criminal justice system is causing a strain on the economy at both local and national levels, and the system exhibits an almost 70% recidivism rate; and

WHEREAS, Roughly 40% of prisoners suffer from HIV, Hepatitis C, Tuberculosis, or are acutely mentally ill; and

WHEREAS, As a society there is a necessity for us to look more closely and critically at who makes up this prison population. For instance, the “war on drugs” has created a situation where 70% of the incarcerated are non-violent offenders. Likewise, with one in three African American men serving time in penal institutions at some point in their lives this should be regarded as an acute situation; and

WHEREAS, It is time for us to look collectively at some of the alternatives available to the current practices of punitive justice; and

THEREFORE, In order to work toward achieving this goal here in Philadelphia, we do hereby declare March 2007 Justice Month and initiate a month-long “Festival of Justice” in the city. This festival brings various regional organizations and persons together to tackle difficult social questions; and

THEREFORE, We invite the hundreds of organizations in the greater Philadelphia region who are working on solutions to these problems, to contribute their thoughts and energies in order to expand this important dialogue on public safety, incarceration, and re-entry; now therefore

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That the Month of March 2007 be declared “Justice Month” and City Council encourages participation in a month-long “Festival of Justice” in the City of Philadelphia.

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